Massa declared Belgian GP winner after Hamilton penalised
08 Sep 2008
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was declared the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren' Lewis Hamilton, was demoted to third position due to a 25-second time penalty. Though Hamilton was the first to cross the chequered flag, he was stripped of his titleas a result of the penalty. BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld moved up to take the second position. McLaren plan to appeal against the decision.
The penalty was imposed on the Hamilton after stewards decided that he had gained an advantage by cutting the final chicane as he battled with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. The incident happened at the end of lap 42.
Raikkonen crashed out shortly after the incident, having led most of the race up to that point.
McLaren will appeal the stewards' decision as they feel that Hamilton had immediately surrendered the lead back to Raikkonen on the start-finish straight, before overtook reigning world champion Raikkonen on entry to the La Source hairpin,
It is now up to the FIA Court of Appeal to judge whether McLaren have grounds to pursue their complaint, otherwise the complaint will be withdrawn.
Hamliton still leads the championship with 76 points. However, Sunday's result has moved Massa at 74 points for the season, cutting Hamilton's lead to just two points.
Force India drivers Adrian Sutil and Giancario Fisichella finished 13th and 17th respectively.
The next race begins in Italy in two weeks time.